This article is part of our FanDuel NBA series.
Every week, this article will take a look at players who are undervalued and should be in your lineup. These are players who should exceed their value in fantasy points when looking at their cost. These players could be at the minimum or near minimum of $3,500 or could be in the $7-8,000 range. It's easy to peg players like LeBron James or Anthony Davis, but the key is to find value players to plug in with them.
Point Guard
D.J. Augustin, $4,000 – Even as a backup, Augustin has quietly been consistent this season with only two games below 11 fantasy points. He's the perfect punt play when loading up on big men and may see an increased role going forward. Augustin picked up the start Tuesday night and could maintain that role if Brandon Jennings misses extended time with a thumb injury. With extended minutes last season as a member of the Bulls, Augustin consistently hit above the 20 fantasy point mark and often surpassed 30.
Shooting Guard
Andrew Wiggins, $5,600 – Minnesota continues to get hit hard by injuries with the latest being Kevin Martin. Right now, it appears Martin is going to miss significant time and leave his starter's minutes behind for his teammates. The problem is the Wolves don't have any other great options at shooting guard, and sliding Wiggins into that role from the three makes sense. At 6-8 this creates a height advantage for Wiggins who can exploit those matchups. With the injuries leading to a thin bench and lack of scoring options, Wiggins is going to log heavy minutes and could average over 15 shots per game.
Giannis Antetokounmpo, $5,700 – Giannis was featured in this column at the start of the season, and with Jason Kidd wisely making him a starter and giving him more time, he's been fantastic. He has had less than 19 fantasy points once in seven of his last eight games, with that one dud being a contest he got into foul trouble in. Over those seven games, Giannis had four games of 29 or more fantasy points show the type of upside he has on a nightly basis. The scary part of Giannis' game is that there's still room for improvement, and he'll get better as the season goes on.
Ben McLemore, $4,400 – McLemore has a low floor as evidenced by a 7.1 fantasy-point game last week but has 19 fantasy points or better in six of his last nine games. He had a season-high 36.3 fantasy points at Minnesota on Saturday and will be in line for a bigger scoring role with Rudy Gay and Darren Collison both battling injuries. Both of those injuries aren't expected to be serious as of now but they will make the Kings offense more reliant on McLemore's game.
Small Forward
Wilson Chandler, $5,300 – After a little bit of a slow start, Chandler has picked up his fantasy production and become one of the best daily values. He has established a nice floor with at least 22 fantasy points over his last seven games and has three straight games of over 30 fantasy points. Chandler has found his scoring touch with double-digit points in each of those seven games and has cleaned up the glass with at least five rebounds in his last six games.
Power Forward
Nikola Mirotic, $3,700 – Mirotic exploded last Friday when teammate Taj Gibson left the game, and Mirotic finished with 37.2 fantasy points. He followed that up with a 17.5 fantasy point effort Monday night. While that doesn't sound like anything special, it's a great value given most fantasy players would be happy with a 35 fantasy point effort out of a $7,400 player. Mirotic has professional experience already and can fill the stat sheet for a power forward. He's hitting over 40 percent of his three-pointers and has just under a double-double (14 points, 9.3 rebounds) looking at his per-36 minute stats. Gibson looks like he's going to miss some time and Joakim Noah and Pau Gasol haven't been able to stay on the court so far. That should make for playing time in the mid-20s with the upside to surpass 30 for time being.
Marreese Speights, $5,400 – 24.8, 25.2, 33.8, 14.5 and 39.4 fantasy points. That's what Speights has done over his last five games heading into Tuesday night's game against the Heat. He's become the main scoring option of the second team and been incredibly efficient with a mark of 29.4 points this season per-36 minutes. Bogut has never been the model of health, and the Warriors have the perfect setup for Speights to thrive in with so many great outside shooters. Even if he doesn't see 24-plus minutes per game, he's doing enough at this price to earn his value.
Center
Gorgui Dieng, $6,100 – Dieng has inherited the starting role for the Timberwolves while Nikola Pekovic is dealing with wrist and ankle injuries. Dieng is a unique player in that his athleticism allows him to rack up steals and blocks, both of which count for two points apiece in the FanDuel system. As long as he stays out of foul trouble, and Pekovic remains sidelined, Dieng will continue to have that 20 fantasy point floor.
